Even beat-and-raise earnings won't change the thesis on these struggling retail stocks, which have more losses to come

Sears Holdings (SHLD)

Sears Holdings (SHLD) looks like it’s going out of business, and there’s no reason to think earnings — released Thursday — will change the outlook. SHLD stock is essentially flat for the year-to-date, but that decent performance is due to the market’s valuation of its real estate assets — not its operations.

Sears is bleeding cash and slowly dismantling itself, selling every part of the company it can. Most recently, SHLD said it wants to sell its stake in Sears Canada.

This slow-motion liquidation sale won’t boost revenue, not when SHLD closed 100 stores over the last year.

No surprise here: SHLD earnings are going to be terrible. Its loss is forecast to widen to $1.77 a share from $1.54 last year. Sales are expected to decline more than 8%.